The Ghana national football team, or the Black Stars, led by Serbian coach Ratomir Dujkovic, have finally, after many failed attempts and many years of waiting, qualified for their first-ever World Cup Finals.

They overcame Group 2 favourites and 2010 hosts South Africa to claim their place in the Finals in Germany.

The Black Stars are arguably the most successful team in Africa, having won the African Cup of Nations four times, in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982, and have enjoyed tremendous success at the youth level, winning the World Under-17 title twice, and also twice finishing second at the World Youth Championship.

In 1957, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister of an independent African nation, thought that if he sent his message of a united Africa through football, then it would help not only the independence of Ghana, but the independence of Africa as a whole.

Until he was removed from power by a coup in 1966, Nkrumah used football as a tool to depict how strong Africa and Ghana could be. The sport became well supported and this led to Ghana becoming the most powerful footballing nation in Africa.

Unfortunately, Nkrumah's fall from power resulted in Ghanaian football losing its status as best on the continent and it was only in the late 1970’s that Ghana began to show a return to their previous form, winning the African Cup of Nations in 1978 and 1982.

Perhaps the most impressive performances in Ghanaian football occurred in the later 1980's and 1990's, thanks to the country's sparkling youth teams.

Ghana won two Under-17 FIFA World Championships in 1991 and 1995, with two runner’s-up performance’s in the 1993 and 2001 Under-20 World Youth Championship’s.

These achievements spoke volumes about Ghana's seemingly endless supply of talented young players, but also exposed the inability of the football authorities in the country to mould together a top senior side.

Over the years, Ghana has produced wonderful footballers such as Abedi Pele, who played in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and most famously in France, where he helped Marseille win the 1993 UEFA Champion’s League and Former Leeds United star Tony Yeboah to name just two, but as is the norm in Africa, both players left Africa to play their club-football in Europe, leaving the domestic leagues without any notable stars.

Ghana, in qualification for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, put together a qualifying campaign that was almost perfect, apart from losing their opening match to Burkina Faso, the Black Stars went on to win their nine remaining matches unbeaten, only conceding four goals in total during the qualifiers.

The defence that was so mean in qualifying will face the ultimate test after being drawn in Group E alongside European giants Italy and the Czech Republic, who both have incredible goal scoring talent, and also the USA who have made major steps in recent years.

However, now the Black Stars have their chance to shine for the first time on the international stage, they will want to show to the world their intent.

The Black Stars have an experienced strike-force, with Patrick Agyemang from Preston North End, Borussia Dortmund’s Matthew Amoah and Isaac Boakye from Arminia Bielefeld who are both based in Germany, along with Russia based striker Baffour Gyan from Dynamo Moscow.

The Ghanaian midfield is also very capable. It features their star player, Michael Essien, who joined Premiership champions Chelsea at the beginning of this season, and who is easily the cornerstone of the team and their biggest talent.

The Black Stars captain, Stephen Appiah of Fenerbahçe, is more than capable of scoring goals from his position in midfield and along with Asamoah Gyan from Italian side Modena, both have emerged as joint leading-scorers in qualifying, scoring three goals each, along with Vitesse Arnhem's Matthew Amoah they will be the heart of midfield for the team.

At the back, among the defenders who ensured that Ghana only allowed four goals in ten qualifiers were John Mensah from Stade Rennes in France, John Paintsil from Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel and Issah Ahmed from Randers FC in Denmark to name just a few.

Roma’s Samuel Osei Kuffour is a defender of great calibre, but he didn’t play in all the qualifiers after being involved in a dispute with the national team, but the experienced veteran should appear in the squad for the team in the Finals.

The team also possesses solid goalkeeping in the form of domestic-based Sammy Adjei who plays his club football for Mohadon Sports Ashdod in Israel with Ashanti Gold’s George Owu offering back-up.

With only a handful of stars in their ranks, the Ghanaians will be forced to use unity and teamwork as their biggest ally. The team has played well together under Dujkovic, and this could be the key to any success they have this summer.

The two teams that will feel that have the easiest chance of qualification in the group will have to be both Italy and the Czech Republic, but it is possible Ghana could spring some surprises and get through to the knockout rounds of the competition.

It has to be said though, if the Black Stars get further than the last sixteen in the tournament, it would be truly remarkable.

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Ghana Match Fixtures in the World Cup 2006

12-June-2006	Italy v Ghana	21:00 BST
17-June-2006	Czech Republic v Ghana	18:00 BST
22-June-2006	Ghana v USA	16:00 BST

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Historic Facts

First International appearance: Ghana 1 - 0 Nigeria (Accra, Ghana; May 28, 1950)

Largest win: Malawi 0 - 12 Ghana (Malawi; October 15, 1962)

Worst defeat: Brazil 8 - 2 Ghana (São José, Brazil; March 27, 1996)

World Cup Finals Appearances: Debut appearance in the World Cup 2006 tournament

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Ghana Match Results - Africa World Cup Qualifiers, Group 2

Date	Match	Result
08-Oct-2005	Cape Verde Islands - Ghana	0:4 (0:2)
18-Jun-2005	South Africa - Ghana	0:2 (0:0)
05-Jun-2005	Ghana - Burkina Faso	2:1 (0:1)
27-Mar-2005	Congo DR - Ghana	1:1 (0:1)
10-Oct-2004	Ghana - Congo DR	0:0
05-Sep-2004	Ghana - Cape Verde Islands	2:0 (1:0)
03-Jul-2004	Uganda - Ghana	1:1 (1:0)
20-Jun-2004	Ghana - South Africa	3:0 (1:0)
05-Jun-2004	Burkina Faso - Ghana	1:0 (0:0)

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